Cabinet approves German circumcision rule after global outcry

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By Patrick Donahue
The Washington Post News Service with Bloomberg News
October 11, 2012

BERLIN — Germany’s Cabinet approved a law allowing male circumcision under medical supervision, responding to an outcry this year by Jewish and Muslim groups after a court ruled the procedure amounted to bodily harm.

The draft law, which says the procedure can only take place after ‘‘comprehensive instruction’’ of parents and requires a professional medical procedure to limit suffering, will reestablish legal clarity that was thrown into question with the district court ruling in May in Cologne, the Justice Ministry in Berlin said in an e-mailed statement.

The new rules ‘‘bring various interests into a balanced compromise,’’ the ministry said. They open the way for religious expression by specifically permitting male circumcision while offering protection against bodily injury.

An uproar broke out over the summer after the court said that circumcising boys constitutes battery even if parents consent to it.

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